Keep Moving Forward
by DuHSPaZZiNGFeL
Summary: A collection of oneshots based on the alphabet. It's time to use your legs, and walk forward. Time doesn't wait for you and you can't wait for time, and no matter what happens, the world won't stop spinning. "And he saw red." - NO ELRICEST.
1. A: Another Day

**AN: I cannot take credit for the idea of using the alphabet exercise, because it isn't mine. The original idea for it was ****Sedentary Wordsmith's. I took to the idea so well, that this popped out. **

**Another Day**

As harsh rays of belittling sunlight washed down from the sky, Alphonse couldn't help but notice how it reflected quite unnaturally on his older brother's automail. They were artificial limbs, made of refined metals and bolts with screws, but most of all, they were _fake_.

So about six months had passed since Al's soul was returned to his rightful body, but Edward retained his stride, unchanged and unchanging. Things were supposed to go well, and they did…for the most part. But even as the past few months sped by, there was always a feeling of guilt that resounded with his heartbeat. Sure, his brother had felt this before, trembling in fear of being hated by his younger sibling, but it couldn't have been a feeling such as this one, could it?

"What are you doing Al? We're supposed to be at Colonel Bastard's office in five minutes!" He heard Edward's frantic voice, peering over his shoulders as he constantly waved arms in the air. "You're walking slower than Winry in a mechanical store!"

He smiled slowly and strode along behind his older brother.

There was snow outside, chilling his bones to the marrow, but that only made him think of his guilt even more as he observed the Fullmetal Alchemist in front of him who was painfully rubbing his right shoulder. The metal in his prosthetic limbs tingled sharply whenever it rained or was too cold, and to think, it was all Al's fault, right?

His brother sacrificed his right arm to attach his soul hastily onto a nearby suit or armor and very nearly bled to death. Again, that was his fault. His brother sacrificed his chance to retrieve his own arm and leg back from the Gate in order to regain his little brother's body back. And that was his fault too.

But as much as Alphonse voiced his opinion to Edward, he wouldn't have it, saying things like, "I'm your elder, so that means I have to protect you," or "Don't worry about it, Al."

By then, the whole routine became redundant, and it seemed all the more pointless to question Ed's motives. After all, Fullmetal was notorious for being unpredictable or rash. Who's to say what would happen tomorrow, or their next assignment, or even what would happen at this very moment? No one could ever know, especially in the presence of someone as prominent as him.

"Are you coming or not?"

Al finally looked up from the ground, only to realize that they had finally arrived at the Colonel's headquarters. The door was uniformly ajar and an impatient Edward was standing on the steps with a curious glare in his golden eyes. "Hey, if you want to stay outside, it's fine with me. I know I'm not. My automail is killing me!"

Although he said this, Ed finally noticed that his brother was unusually quiet.

"Hm," he sighed as he looked at Al up and down, "There something wrong?"

Hesitant to answer, the younger family member knew that there was no going around the subject any longer; he would have to say _something _sooner or later.

"No, I was just thinking about how it's snowing today. We used to look forward to it when we were little." His eyes wandered across an unseen landscape as he continued, "And you were the best right-handed snowball pitcher out there…"

"Oh, I see," Edward comprehended, "You're feeling guilty again, aren't you?" When there was no answer, he went on, "You know I think you shouldn't."

"Brother, I'm—"

He held up a hand. "I attached your soul to the armor for a reason, Al. At that moment, all I wanted to do was save my only little brother, and I don't regret getting your body back, _or _not getting my body back to normal." He took a breath and observed the puff of chilly smoke that appeared before his cheeks, then—

"It's equivalent exchange, Al, my body for yours, and I'm happy with it."

And as Alphonse watched his brother turn around with a grin to enter through the open doorway, he couldn't help but feel a little less blameworthy for the predicament that they were in. After all, there was something exciting about gaining a new assignment from the Colonel after a while.

"Use your legs, Al, remember that, and then maybe you can walk into another day."


	2. B: Brothers and Blood

**Brothers and Blood**

Alphonse hated hospitals, albeit mostly this one in particular. So what if it was the main sickbay in Central, what did he care? In fact, he had spent entirely too much time here, and for a boy that was supposed to be fourteen, that was not a good thing.

He hated the very sight of it. What, with the whitewashed walls that appeared as if the word 'color' was just in a fairytale's imagination, or the all too professional tiled floors that were highly polished and liked to squeak against someone's passing foot or the rolling wheel of a moving hospital bed.

He hated the idea of it. Patients were carried inside in a frenzied hurry every couple of minutes or so. For the especially unlucky ones, they earned a no expense trip to the emergency room, or even worse, a first class ticket to the morgue. The gruesome thought almost made him feel like shivering. But then again, he couldn't. After all, he was made of hard and cold metal.

The worst part though, was that a lot of the people that went here _did _have to go into surgery, and of course, there were those who didn't survive. People were either recovered, in the process of recovery, dead, or dying. And in his brother's case, was the latter: dying.

The suit of armor silently paced to the transparent glass of the emergency room, and there, with frantic surgeons and assistants formulating some elaborate medical plan, laid Edward. His face was whiter than the walls in the damned facility, and splotched with red that dyed what was left of his clothes and the same sticky substance speckled pale cheeks, his eyes closed and mouth open with irregular breaths.

"Brother," Al murmured to himself so that no one could hear, "Wake up."

-

_Some insane lunatic was after them again. There was no reason, besides that fact that Ed was the Fullmetal (State) Alchemist which incorporated a nutshell alchemist to chase after them. One would say it was the same routine, except for the fact that this guy had followers. So naturally, the brothers were outnumbered._

_As they could recall, this was the very man they were set out to discover, and his name was Laec Darwin Lionel. At least, that was what the records written about him stated. _

_And as luck would have it, the man was also a complete and utter loon._

"_Come and catch me Fullmetal!" Laec was laughing so hysterically that it had a chilling effect to anyone that heard it. "If you catch me then I can rip you! I can tear you till your blood pours! You'll die! You'll die!"_

_And he continued to dance around the dark, brick alleyways with that terrible delight, subordinates lagging hesitantly behind with charged rifles at hand._

"_You'll die!"_

"_Die!"_

"_Die!"_

"_DIE!"_

_But the fanatical banter failed to stop their pursuit. Edward was long past the stage of transmuting his automail right arm into a lethal pointed weapon and was already in the process of causing sharp rocks to jut out of the ground and make an attempt to tumble holes into the runaway man. The only problem was that Lionel was resisting. He was the former Liquid Ice Alchemist after all. _

_And fortune supposedly being on their side, they had managed to avoid the numerous counter attacks consisting of ice transmutations and smoke screens that blurred their line of sight. But that didn't change the fact that the man had somehow gained the upper hand. _

"_Alphonse!" It was Edward calling. "Al! No!"_

Oh, was there something the matter?

_The younger Elric had found himself lying on the dirt beneath him, not recalling exactly how he got there in the first place, but ultimately, his sibling sounding wholly distraught with worry. What was going on to make Ed react in such a fashion? Ordinarily, one should have been concerned for his wellbeing, but Al couldn't help it. He was curious._

"_What is it brother," he heard himself say. "What's wrong?"_

_Then, he felt it, a nasty tingling sensation that could make even a suit of empty metal shiver with fright. Something or _someone _was disturbing the delicate blood seal in the back of his hollow torso. And he found himself yelling in stark protest, trying in vain to remove the water wisp from smudging the only thing that kept him bound to this world._

"_NO! I won't let you touch him! Kill me! Kill me instead! Don't you _dare _hurt my little brother!"_

_Al wanted to stop it all, to tell him that he should never do that, he wasn't worth it!_

Don't you do it, brother!

_But the water complied and he could almost feel the sizzle of hatred and excitement through his soul as Laec Darwin Lionel took his chance to pin his sibling down until he was helpless and stared determinedly upward as if accepting an unavoidable death…_

_And he saw red as it circulated, looking as if time had stopped at that very moment, taunting him like no other. A razor-sharp automail blade stuck through the traitor alchemist's back, as multiple shards of icicles were clean through the other's._

_And he saw the crimson hue of his brother's blood._

**AN: This one feels like it has to continue, maybe in the next letter? And as a fun little fact, the name 'Laec' actually means, "Lives near water".**


	3. C: Comatose

**Comatose**

_And he saw red._

Was it scarlet, or was the hue just a fickle trick of the light? Al couldn't be certain. But one thing was for sure, he _did _remember what had happened, and only just the previous evening. And it was obvious that what had occurred subsequently was something he would rather not commit to memory at all.

His hollow gloved hand pressed against the translucent glass, gripping onto something flat and nonexistent. But as hard as he tried to pull some joy out of nothing, he knew deep in his chest plate, that it would all turn up fruitless. Out of all things, this was the second time in his life where there was this small, _infinitesimal_, likelihood that someone he held close to his heart would survive. And Alphonse knew precisely what he could lose.

Although, it looked like he lost the game already.

The doctors had already begun to pack and make their leave, and the surgeons transferred the weak and battered body of his elder brother onto a clean rolling mattress that would serve as a makeshift transportation to another recovery room. His glowing eyes spotted the nurses that carefully rolled the boy out, faces grim and not even a trace of remorse upon their faces.

He hated this. It was like they were already expecting him to die.

"Alphonse," said a more-serious-than-normal Colonel Mustang. "They're transferring Fullmetal to the third floor, room 34C. Visiting hours end in about forty-five minutes. I suggest you get a move on."

If armor could sigh, Al knew he would. As stern and brutally sound the words of the higher ranking military officer said, he knew that Mustang meant well. It was only a matter of following his orders for once, at least that was the only thing he could do. But he knew that the man was right. Al wanted to see his brother, but he could only wish that it wouldn't be the last time.

_Please, oh please!_

"Well?" The Colonel prodded the back of the empty armor's suit. With a resounding _clink clink _he managed to get the detached soul to budge. "I'm coming with you, Alphonse. Get going. You're blocking the hallway." And to his surprise, indeed he was.

They knew that sooner or later, the two males would arrive onto the third floor, in fact, they were standing right in front of the room they were searching for: 34C.

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

Of course, the beat of the electrocardiogram was deafening, if only on ears that weren't even there in the first place. But nonetheless, the hiss of the nightmarish sound was terrible to Alphonse, and he hated it more than anything in the world. The truth was, he couldn't believe just how _much _he hated it. The being was the living, breathing form of torture, of everything he thought he ever did wrong in life. But why did Edward have to be punished for whatever reason that was?

_No. It should be me! It should be!_

But he only knew of the truth: he couldn't feel pain physically.

Like he suspected, the boy was still and unmoving. There was barely a sound besides the resounding heart monitor's constant thrumming. Mustang took this all into account and decided that the least he could do was check up on his subordinate, no matter how infuriating he could be sometimes. He almost wanted to snap his fingers and burn the walls into a mound of ashtrays on the spot. He restrained himself, though; as he had only figured out that the boy had reached the state enough for hospitalization quite recently. In other words, he had heard only a few hours ago from a frantic younger Elric.

"You've gotten yourself into a deep pile of shit, Fullmetal," the superior officer offered in a stern tone, "I sure hope as hell that you knew what you were doing."

Al hadn't noticed that the Colonel had moved forward at all. Instead, he refrained from making any clanking noises and stayed almost as still as the older brother he had. His leather hands wrung themselves as if he was so oblivious to the world outside of his armor for a while and his soul fire eyes kept staring past the man to the white expanse of the sterilized partitions ahead.

The boy hesitantly asked, "Um, Mustang, sir?"

"Quiet Alphonse. I'm trying to slap some sense into your pipsqueak of an older brother." And later after that, Al remained silent for more than a moment longer.

At first, both of them had not been expecting any sort of reply. The silence was just too; well, _silent_ to say the least. In all honesty, anything that made even the slightest of sounds would be automatically turned down or shunned if not for the sake of their inner sanity. The situation was too traumatizing at best, but words could not describe what happened next.

They heard a faint and hoarse mumble to the front of them, completely caught off guard at who was speaking. He wasn't supposed to wake up yet! The doctors had put him on enough anesthesias to knock the young State Alchemist out from wound pains and injuries for at least a couple more hours before the moment had come for him to _wake up_. The matter was almost as surprising as it was too intricate to believe.

"Who're you calling a half-pint shrimp?" It was a murmured and barely recognizable reply, Edward's gold irises only partially dilated to be too aware of the hospital surroundings. His bangs were covering a good portion of his face and he looked only scarcely alert to the people that stood nearby. "I'm not small," he slurred out softly again, "I swear I'll grow."

At this, Mustang could only laugh out loud, his shoulders heaving in an enormous response to the gesture. "You see, Al?" the man chuckled out, "Your brother finally has some sense after all this time."

Al ignored the Flame Alchemist for a moment and timidly took a few clanging steps towards his elder sibling, tentative of making clamors that were much to loud for resting ears. Attentive to the presence of his companion, he quietly walked around him and knelt gently next to the rolling hospital bed, gazing intently at the dazed and weary expression upon Ed's features.

"Brother?"

It was the voice of his little brother that absolutely woke Edward Elric up. It was like an invisible something pushed him out of his half asleep state and suddenly, his eyes were fully opened and lids were pushed all the way back that it made his orbs seem wider than normal, obviously shocked at the predicament he found himself in.

"Al?" Ed questioned as he tried to sit up, but he winced as a result and was effectively pressed back to lie down again. He groaned. "What the hell am I doing in the hospital? What happened to that Lionel bastard, and why the fuck is _that _Colonel Bastard here?" he said as he tried to point in Roy's general direction. Al shook his helmet as if to suggest a 'no-please-calm-down-brother'.

Mustang snorted. "Looks like you're finally awake, Fullmetal."

"Oh yea?" Ed was trying to get up again as the man seemed to loom ever closer over him, but was gently laid back yet again by Al. "Don't you have paperwork to do?"

The adult only shoved his hands into the side pockets of his navy blue military uniform and poised himself like the professional he was. "Don't get me wrong, Ed. I came to check up on you." The words came as a stark revelation to both Ed and Al, but he nonetheless continued as if he hadn't seen the look of pure astonishment that briefly took up his teenage subordinate. "And relax. You took Lionel down with you, though you could have done it with less conventional methods."

"Wait. What?"

"In other words, Fullmetal, you were sent back to the hospital for being reckless _again_."

"What the hell are you talking about, Mustang? You were the one who put me on the damn mission in the first place!" Ed huffed and attempted to cross his arms, but realized he was unable to do so as his automail arm was not budging and his left arm's flesh wrist was wrapped in numerous bandages.

"Yes, Ed," Roy glared, "I _did _put you up to that mission, but I also instructed that you take either Armstrong or some other State Alchemist with you because I _warned _you that it could get rough. But _no_, you just had to go off like nothing could go wrong."

He shook his full head of raven-black hair and actually, _genuinely, _smiled for once at Edward. If the previous comment of wanting to "check up on him" hadn't terrified him enough, it was this unearthly and utterly alien movement that did. Ed could almost feel one of his eyelids twitching in preparation for an anxiety attack.

"Uh," Ed uncertainly said. "Are you ok?"

The Colonel snapped up straight and the smile disappeared. "Just don't get yourself killed, Ed."

"Heh. Like I'll ever to that before you do."

But while Roy Mustang and Edward Elric were having an unnaturally tranquil conversation, Al wanted more than anything to ask his brother why he did that. Not why he was speaking with the superior officer, but why had he bothered to save Al in the first place? Was he really worth it? He consequently voiced his thoughts soon afterward when their friendly banter had died down.

"What're talking about, Al?"

He was unsure with himself now. Had he done the right thing? And Mustang was here too! Why did he have to ask in front of him? Would the man see this as ridiculous or mindless, or maybe even pointless? He could not be so sure, so his helmet turned towards the floor as his glowing eyes bored into the blank tiles of the ground.

"I was just telling the bastard over here that it was great that at least you got out ok." Al could almost feel the warm smirk that was about to grace Mustang's reverie another time, for he was so sure that Ed and him had somehow shared some inside joke. Ed went on, "The miserable fuck didn't stand a chance, right, Colonel? No one can lay a hand on my little brother."

Alphonse felt so much better after that, whether Colonel Mustang or Edward had planned that out or not.


	4. D: Dare to Listen

**Dare to Listen**

They say that if you hold a brand new puppy to your heart, they will always remember your first embrace.

It was hard to decide, but this is the reason that when she picked the black and white newborn from a litter of siblings, she held it close to her chest, almost as if she was trying to protect it from something that was somewhere out there. The animal whimpered as Winry Rockbell carried her away, all too fascinated with the passing scenery of the Resembool plains and greenery when they rode on a horse drawn wagon back to their home.

"Daddy thanks for letting me get a puppy! I can't wait to tell Ed and Al!"

Urey grinned at his precious daughter, "Do you have a name for it yet?" And he went on to whip the reigns to make the horses trot a little faster. Dinner and stew were awaiting them and he could hardly wait any longer. When his stomach growled, Winry only giggled.

"Nope! I'll see what Granny says first!"

She was four years old, a youthful and rather pretty little girl with eyes like the ocean and a combination of numerous tinges of blue, and light blonde hair like a fresh cob of corn that flickered brilliantly against the afternoon sunlight. Her skin was fair and smooth, albeit a slight pigment darker than normal as she had been recently attempting to assist her mother, Sara Rockbell, with the gathering of weeds outside their yellow home. The year was 1903 and although the town they lived in was surely not a bustling one, they could never have been any happier.

The next morning, Ed and Al came rushing up to the front door of the Rockbells' porch and the home stirred with the unique hustle and sleepy groans of an early rise. Trisha had made an honest try at halting her boys from all the excitement, but in the end, she came running up behind them with a disappointed expression and the heavy heaves of an accelerated run.

"Boys," the young brunette mother said sternly, "You really shouldn't—"

And then the door opened wide.

Winry stood there, still a little dozy from just barely being able to wake up, but nonetheless took the intense effort of holding the puppy to her chest. When she spotted that her childhood friends had come to visit in order to see her surprise, the sleep suddenly rubbed out of her eyes and she beamed, hugging the puppy a little further away so they could see.

"See?" She said joyfully, "It's a girl puppy!"

Edward pouted and placed his hands on his hips, golden irises sweeping over the resting creature and a raised eyebrow. "Does it _have _to be a girl? Boys are better!" At that, his mother gave him a warning glance, but he made no note of it. He was such a stubborn boy.

"Nuh-uh, Ed! Girls are!" Then soon a short banter ensued, causing a modest amount more of havoc than they needed that morning.

"Why are you holding it so close? Afraid Granny's going to cook her?" Ed smirked and crossed his arms from his waist over to his chest in a confident manner. From this point, Trisha knew better than to interrupt. Both children were hopeless when it came to arguing amongst themselves. She just hoped that Al would be better than his older brother at that. She simply shook her head and sighed, arms dropping to her sides.

The Rockbell girl glowered, "Because, _Ed_," she huffed, "I'm holding her close to my heart so she gets to know me!"

"That's stupid! Puppies don't _need _to know anything but how to go to the bathroom!"

Then an interruption came. "I like dog, brother!" Alphonse exclaimed animatedly. He was only three-years-old, but the words were nothing short of wisdom. His hands slowly tried to reach up and out toward the puppy and Winry let him stroke her soft fur for a bit before she heard Granny Pinako call out from inside the kitchen to invite the guests for a round of breakfast.

And from there, the day was perfect. The Elrics and the Rockbells spent their whole day together, a perfect end to the weekend before Sara and Urey had to go off into town again to work as surgeons and when the customers returned to Pinako's automail workshop for fittings, adjustments, repair, and replacements. It was great, of course, until after supper came.

"Um, Daddy?" The azure-eyed girl wandered around from her block game with the Elric brothers to her father who was reading a medical textbook on the couch in the living room. "Where's the puppy? I can't find her."

"Winry, didn't you take her out to go?"

She nodded while rubbing her cheek. "Yeah but I took her back in."

Worry grazed his features and she knew something was wrong. She had taken the black and white puppy out over an hour ago. Their house wasn't easy to get lost in, and he was so sure that if the puppy needed something, she wouldn't hesitate to make a sound or an endeavor to bark. Where could the new pet have gone so suddenly?

They had checked everywhere, even gathering up the entire family plus Ed, Al, and Trisha Elric for some extra help, but the puppy was nowhere to be found and it had been hours already. All the rooms were devoid of the missing pet, save for a few things that were shaped like a dog like stuffed animals that made them believe that she was there, and the hard to reach corners were empty of nothing but dust bunnies. The sky was dimming and the light fading fast. They had to find her before night fell completely.

"We'll split up," Sara Rockbell stated, "Dad and I will check in town. Granny will check on the farm, and Trisha?"

"Yes," she replied when she heard her name, "I'll check with the neighbors."

Winry looked up, tears welling up near her full eyelashes. "B-But what about Ed, Al, and me?" She blinked and a steady tributary of something wet slowly descended down her cheeks and past the crevice of her mouth. They tasted salty, and she hated it. All she wanted was her new friend back.

Sara tapped her chin as if she was thinking hard. "Well," she responded, "Why don't you three take a look over by the caves? Granny is nearby, so she can watch all of you." At this statement, Pinako nodded in understanding. "Just be careful."

With a new determination, the parents went their separate ways, asking here and there if anyone had seen a lost and confused puppy somewhere in Resembool.

Ed led the way across the river with Granny Pinako's consent, and they passed a gently flowing and narrow body of water. The sun's muted rays hit the waves in supple orange-red lights and the rocks that they hit against shone with a slight sparkle of a colorless shine when their shoes touched them and they were careful not to slip, Ed tightly grasping onto his little brother's hand and Winry not too far in tow.

In a few moments, they had finally reached the infamous caves, dens of ledges and a genuine labyrinth of sorts where the children loved to play in. Most of the entrances were blocked off by boulders, however, so parents were almost never worried about them getting lost. Anyway, they knew that these three were all bright for their age. They could handle themselves for a while.

The three children hesitantly took a few steps inside the cave, having not been there without the sunlight ever before, and Ed felt Al cling to him closely. It was one of these times when he had to be a good and strong older brother. "I got you, Al," he murmured in reassurance.

It was silent for a long while, until they all started at a whine that came not too far off to their left.

"Puppy!" Winry grinned so wide, her appearance only had the capacity to glow. "You're back! I knew you'd come back!" She turned to her friends and flailed her arms in the air. "Ed! Al! She's here! We found her! Can you believe it? We found her! Wait till we tell mom and dad and your mom!"

She continued to keep her wide smile and picked up the lost and whimpering animal. She held her close to her chest again, this time hugging her firmly, whispering that she would never _ever _lose her another time. She plainly would not allow it anymore. She had to keep it safe and sound, after all.

Edward marveled at the scene. He had never seen anyone quite so happy to be in a forsaken cave in the middle of the night before. It made him wonder just how much something like a newborn dog could mean to someone, maybe even to someone like his automail-medical junkie of a companion. He supposed he couldn't blame her. She was an only child and had no idea just how much a responsibility having a little brother to care for and protect was.

_Maybe_, he mused, _maybe the puppy is her little sister?_

It was a ridiculous thought, but somehow he just could not seem to shake it. Was this how he looked like when he made the decision that he would do anything for his younger brother? Did he look as excited when he first saved Al from falling into the deep end on the river? He could only imagine, but he knew that there was some connection.

"Den!" Alphonse giggled happily. "Den! Den! Puppy den!"

Winry and Ed glimpsed over at the child who was a year younger then the both of them and laughed. It was a puppy den alright, a cave filled with shameless rocks and rubble every which place and with the darkness that seemed a little too engulfing when the crickets began to chirp with the beginning of the evening, but with a ray of light in between.

"You're right, Al," Edward patted his brother's head.

The girl joined in, finding herself just brimming with that fact that they had finally found her lost puppy. "I think I like that name," she laughed, "Den."

The elder Elric couldn't help but be a little curious. He had to know for sure, would a puppy really remember you better if you held it to your heart? With how carefree it was making everyone and how much his friend seemed to care for the creature like she was a long lost sister, he had to try it out. Maybe he could tell if Winry had felt as accomplished and relieved as he first had when he pulled and rescued his little brother from receiving a severe head injury and falling into the stream, or maybe he would feel as loving and protective.

And so, he cautiously asked her if he could hold Den for a while, earning a shocked gasp, and he dared her to listen.

**AN: This was a oneshot that was inspired by something my dad said to me when I first got my puppy a year ago, and that I'm an only child myself. **


End file.
